Rising costs prompt company to sell part stake in APLNG

CONOCOPHILLIPS plans to sell part of its stake in the Australia Pacific LNG project on Curtis Island, chief executive Ryan Lance has told analysts.

News Ltd reports the company has already announced plans to shed billions of dollars in assets to focus on core areas of its portfolio, particularly in unconventional formations in the US.

Executive vice president for exploration and production Matt Fox said costs had crept up in Australia by about 7% in Australian dollars, which was compounded by the currency's strength against the US dollar.

Even with some reduction in the company's stake, the APLNG project is expected to add 80,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2017, Mr Fox said.

The news follows reports that two other gas giants are considering offloading some of their LNG assets.

BG Group, the UK-based majority owner of the QCLNG project on Curtis Island, is reportedly working with Goldman Sachs as it considers selling pipelines and other equipment on the project.

It's also been reported one of the owners of the GLNG project is looking at selling part of its share.

Korea Gas Corp, commonly known as Kogas, has chosen Samsung Securities to advise on the potential sale of a portion of its 15% stake in the project.